octoBER gEneral meeting
Saturday, October 21, 2023
9:30 A.M.
Serra Mesa-Kearny Mesa Library 9005 Aero, Dr., San Diego, CA 92123
rwanda today & female afghan studentS
Program: Bonita Chamberlin; World Traveler and Good Will ambassador
Although a San Diego native, Bonita Chamberlin has lived, worked, and lectured in many countries in Latin America, Africa, Europe and the Middle and Near East.
She holds a doctorate from the Universidad de los Andes in Biological Sciences and is recognized as a specialist in training people in Lesser Developed Countries, working
with diverse cultures and within various political and economic situations.
Having recently spent five weeks in Rwanda and Uganda, Bonita will provide background on the two countries’ physical situation, human environment and modern history, as well as the rise and fall of competing internal forces. She will give us invaluable insights into her personal relationships with the people with whom she has lived and worked.
She will then focus on Rwanda and the Afghan girls who have managed to find refuge and education in Rwanda.
Barbara Strugar, VP Programs, Friend and Admirer of Bonita
SEPTEMBER gEneral meeting
Sunday, September 10, 2023
1:30 P.M.
North University Community Library
WE MEET OUR 2023 TECH TREK PARTICIPANTS
Program: Meeting our 2023 Tech Trek Girls!
Tech Trek Camp was back LIVE in 2023!
After having to deal with the third computer program in three years, we successfully sent seven 7th grade girls to a LIVE Tech Trek camp at UCSD this year. (Gigantic THANKS to Dr. Mimi Isaac of La Mesa-El Cajon branch, who oversaw all the California camps. When things seemed insurmountable, she simplified them!)
I went to the camp on four mornings to help out in a Forensics class, and I loved it! Especially the day we went to the lower green area where the girls in full white-hooded coverups and protective glasses made blood spatters on a tent’s walls using cow’s blood. They also created artwork painting with the same blood! Studying forensics required using chemistry, biology, zoology, statistics, and math!
This was an incredible experience for 12 and 13-year-olds, who loved “going to college.” Read letters of thanks from our girls, emailed separately, and meet them at this general meeting!
Thanks to all for making this successful TT year possible!
Olivia Werner, Tech Trek Coordinator.
may General meeting
Saturday, May 20, 2023
10:00 A.M.
North University Community Library
HEALTHY AGING: IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS…
Program: President-Elect Carole Banka
Dr. Carole Banka received her Ph.D. from the UCSF School of Medicine and did postdoctoral training in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at UCSD and the Department of Immunology at the Scripps Research Institute. Her independent research career was launched with the Florence Seibert/Sharon Schuster
Postdoctoral Fellowship from AAUW.
She has held faculty positions at the Scripps Research Institute and the La Jolla Institute for where she was Director of Women’s Health Research and an Adjunct Faculty Position at Northern Arizona University. Dr. Banka recently retired from the Department of Medicine at UCSD.
Dr. Banka has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, the journal Science and has published more than 40 articles, editorials and book chapters. She has received numerous local and national awards for her public speaking in areas of women’s health. Throughout her career her research interests included questions related to women’s health, including heart disease, breast cancer and the biology of estrogen. Her topic, “Healthy Aging: It’s the Little Things…” should be entertaining and enlightening.
Jan Hill & Susan Czertak, Program Co-VPs
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APRIL General meeting
Saturday, April 15, 2023
11:00 A.M.
Home of Olivia Werner
Title IX – Then and now
Our speaker, Amber Eckert, is the Title IX coordinator for the Title IX office of San Diego Community College District and supports district-wide Title IX compliance, including the development, implementation, and monitoring of notifications, policies, and procedures to
comply with federal regulations. Specific responsibilities include the prompt, thorough and impartial investigation and timely resolution in compliance with Title IX regulation of all instances of sex/gender discrimination/harassment reported by students, faculty, employees, or third parties.
Prior to joining the San Diego Community College District, Ms. Eckert serve as Vice President of Student Affairs and Compliance at Alliant University; Vice President of Student Affairs at Ashford University; Dean of Student Affairs at The Art Institute of California – San
Diego; Director of Career Services for DeVry University Southern California; and Coordinator of Campus Clubs and Activities at Cal Poly Humboldt. Ms. Eckert holds a
M.Ed. in College Student Personnel Services from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA and a B.A. in Political Science from Cal Poly Humboldt, Arcata, CA
Ms. Eckert will address how and why Title IX was initiated, its successes, those areas that still need to be addressed, and the current focus of this law.
Our meeting includes a sandwich lunch!
Lunch details: We are ordering sandwiches from Jersey Mike’s as well as providing a vegetable tray with dip. The best part, a homemade chocolate dessert! Lunch cost is $15 per person.
Your check is your reservation. If attending, please mail your $15 check made out to “Cabrillo-Diego AAUW” to Jan Hill no later than Monday, April 10.
Lyn Kagey, President
Jan Hill & Susan Czertak, Program Co-VPs
March General meeting
Saturday, March 18, 2023
10:30 A.M.
North University Community Library
8820 Judicial Dr., San Diego 92122
MY ZIG-ZAG TRAJECTORY IN SCIENCE
Dr. Jane Dyson, Ph.D.
Dr. Jane Dyson received the degree of B.Sc.(hons) from the University of Sydney in 1973 and a Ph.D. from the University of Sydney in 1977. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1977-78, and held a Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell postdoctoral award. She was appointed as a Lecturer in Chemistry at the University of New South Wales in 1979 and joined the Scripps Research Institute in 1984, where she is presently a Professor. She received the degree of D.Sc. from the University of Sydney in 2009 and was awarded the 2019 ISMAR Prize from the International Society of Magnetic Resonance. In 2022 she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A.
Dr Dyson undertakes basic research into the properties and functions of proteins. Her interests span the conformation of peptides, protein folding and dynamics, and structure and functional studies of proteins, both folded and intrinsically disordered, using NMR and other spectroscopic techniques.
Dr. Dyson writes: “My title is ‘My zig-zag trajectory in science’. As for all of us, there have been ups and downs in a 40-year career in science. In describing my own personal path, I hope to share some of the lessons I have learned along the way, about expectations, outcomes, and digging oneself out of holes.”
February General meeting
Saturday, February 18, 2023
10:30 A.M.
on ZOOM (link will be emailed Feb. 16)
OSCARS: SO WHAT?
Dr. William G. Luhr
Dr. William G. Luhr is Professor of English at St. Peter’s University and is a widely published film scholar. For more than twenty years he has served as Co-Chair of the Columbia University Seminar on Cinema and Interdisciplinary Interpretation. He has published two books on the films of Blake Edwards, one on films based on Raymond Chandler’s books and several others.
Bill is co-author of Thinking About Movies: Watching, Questioning, Enjoying, the text book used in most introductory film courses, now in its fourth edition. He is most sought after, perhaps, for his expertise in the area of film noir. Among Bill’s monographs are Film Noir, The Maltese Falcon, and World Cinema Since 1945. Professor Luhr also is editor of The Coen Brothers’ Fargo and has contributed essays to Headline Hollywood: A Century of Film Scandal and The Wiley-Blackwell History of American Film. His speaking engagements include those at the Pordenone Film Festival in Italy; Hong Kong Baptist University, where he spoke about film noir; and elsewhere within the U.S. and beyond.
Dr. Luhr’s presentation for our branch, Oscars: SO WHAT? The Academy Awards and the Constantly-Changing Industry They Champion, should be fun and informative and get us all in the mood for the biggest night of the year in Hollywood : Sunday, March 12!
January General meeting
Saturday, January 21, 2032
10:30 A.M.
North University Community Library
8820 Judicial Dr., San Diego 9212
CHOCOLATE!
Jim Lantry, Chocolatier
The Craft Chocolate movement is in the same place that craft beer was 30 years ago and appeals to the same customer base. Unlike mass produced chocolates, craft chocolate takes advantage of the unique characteristics of cacao grown in different parts of the world.
Often times like wine, cacao grown in farms just a mile apart can have very different flavors and characteristics. The craft chocolate maker works with farmers to insure that the cacao is properly harvested, fermented and dried. Cacao farmers partnering with craft chocolate makers value quality over quantity and are paid a fair sustainable price for their crop, sometimes as much as fives times the cost of “commodity” cacao from West Africa where 60% of all worldwide cacao is grown.
Unlike most chocolatiers who use commercially available chocolate for their products, craft chocolate makers roast and grind the cacao themselves. In this way they are able to control the final product. Craft chocolate is also known as “Bean to Bar” and “Bean toB on” to reflect the entire process.
San Diego native and former lobbyist Jim Lantry has founded Seabreeze Craft Chocolates, a new chocolate factory and retail store in Carmel Valley. Their grand opening was December 10th. Jim serves as the head Chocolate Maker and Chocolatier. He will be talking to us about the history of chocolate in America, the process of making craft chocolate and how it differs from commercial mass-produced chocolate we all know. He will also share some samples of Seabreeze Craft Chocolates!